WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College wrestling team
enters the 2007-08 campaign hopeful of another successful campaign. The
Monarchs return a fair number of experienced veterans, but several
inexperienced underclassmen as well as a crop of newcomers will be counted
on to contribute.
King's will face a major task in trying to better last season's 12-9 squad
which finished the season sixth in the NCAA Division III National
Tournament, the best-ever finish for Monarch Wrestling.
The Monarchs did lose four key seniors to graduation who accounted for
exactly 300 career victories during their time. With the departure of
all-American Jason Reilly (197), Drew Dehaut (165), Zach Dietrick (174), and
James Bishop (285), King's will have big shoes to fill in attempting to
replace such a successful senior class. The Monarchs also placed sixth at
the 2007
The
team will be highlighted by the return of defending 133-pound NCAA Division
III national champion David Morgan (Scranton/West Scranton). The
Monarch standout, who was 35-2 a year ago while becoming King's first
national titlist in any sport, will enter the 2007-08 season ranked first
nationally in Division III. He hopes to become a repeat national champion
when the Division III Tournament is held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
One of the focal points of the season will be a
highly-anticipated match between Morgan and NCAA Division II national
champion Joe Kemmerer of Kutztown when King's hosts the Huskies January 17
at 7:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium. The two were slated to meet last season
but Morgan was unable to compete due to an illness. Both wrestlers would go
on to win national titles in the respective divisions.
The Monarchs do return other of quality wrestlers, including three grapplers
who placed in the top-four in the Metropolitan Wrestling Conference
Championships.
Junior
Zach Wilkinson (White Haven/Crestwood), pictured at right, was
third in the Metropolitan Tournament at 184-pounds, finishing the year with
a fine 20-9 mark. Sophomore Anthony Miele (Mt.
Ephraim, NJ/Audubon) was third in the event at
141-pounds and finished his freshman year with a 28-15 record.
Fellow sophomore Taylor Green (Montgomery,
MD/River Dell) overcame a slow start a year
ago as a rookie and rebounded to place was fourth at 157-pounds, concluding
the season with a 17-20 mark.
Other returning wrestlers for King's include sophomore Lenny Viggiano
(Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Audubon) at 125-pounds. Jeff Mazurek (West
Orange, NJ/West Orange), who was 9-10 as the 125-pound starter last
season, hit the weight room hard and will look to challenge Meile at
141-pounds.
At 149, sophomore Frankie Davis (Madison,
NJ/Madison) is also back after going 8-10
following his second-semester transfer from Division I Hofstra last season.
Sophomore Chris Poleto (Stafford,
VA/Colonial Forge) who was 4-14 last season,
will add depth to the weight class.
In the 157-pound class, Ryan Trees (Kensington,
MD/St. Johns College), who went 1-1 after
missing much of the season with an injury, will look to challenge Green.
At 165, senior Bob Baresse (Scranton/West Scranton) was 4-5 a year
ago and also missed time last season with injury. He will look to replace
Dehaut in the lineup. Sophomore Bobby Williard (Ocean Township, NJ/Ocean
Twp.) also looks to earn time at the weight class.
At 184, looking to challenge Wilkinson is junior Zach Martinez (Hanover
Township/Hanover Area) who was 5-8 a year ago. At 197, Eric Steltzer
(Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany Hills)
looks to improve on his 1-5 mark last season
while backing up all-American Reilly. Sophomore Keith Bolton
(Wilkes-Barre/Meyers) also hopes to work his way into the mix.
In the 285-pound class, junior Justin Bender (Williamstown/Williams
Valley) is expected to earn the starting spot with the departure of
Bishop. Bender has proven to be a worthy competitor, sporting an 8-4 mark
last season and a 24-12 record the past two years. Sophomore Chris Rash
(Freehold, NJ/Freehold), who was 5-7 a year, also looks to fill the void
at 285.
A promising group of freshmen will add depth to the squad, headed by
Maryland state champion Rich Dorsey (Salisbury, MD) at 125-pounds,
and Mike Reilly (Mountaintop/Crestwood), younger brother of Jason,
who will compete at 174-pounds after placing seventh in the Pennsylvania
state tournament as a high school senior. Reilly is transferring to King's
for the second semester after being recruited to Division I Bloomsburg
University.
Other newcomers looking to make in impact include:
125 - Andrew Reichard (Berkley Heights, NJ)
133 - Robert Bernauer (Deptford, NJ)
157 - Daniel Liss (Bridgewater, NJ)
157 - Steven Chenccharick (Cranford, NJ)
165 - Michael Vasquez (Allentown)
165 - Lewis Snover (Great Meadows, NJ/Hackettstown)
174 - Stephen Peters (Clarks Summit/Abington Heights)
197 - Jonathan Wood (Cortland, NY)
285 - John Humble (Columbus, NJ)
The Monarchs will open their season Saturday, November 3 with the Messiah
College Invitational in Grantham. King's will then host the annual Monarch
Wrestling Invitational on Saturday, November 10. King's will also travel to
compete in the prestigious Las Vegas Duals on December 18.
The 2007 Metropolitan Wrestling Conference
Championships are slated for February 24 at Wilkes University
